Starting out the little guy...

[decker9]

Like others have mentioned, start very small. A 410 is more suited for, a lot older. Most of the family has started around 3-4 years old on bb or pellet, then into a custom single shot youth .22 at age 4-5 years old.

My 10 y/o has tried a .243 and 6.5 Grendel with reduced loads, both still give to much oomph for her to handle. Work up slowly!!

[FishandSticks]

Rocks, Slingshot, Pellet gun then a small bow and arrow. Shot a 22 arround 13

I did not get my first gun till I was 58. Maybe not wait that long.

Maybe they won't like guns?

[Kill-da-wabbit]

Rocks, Slingshot, Pellet gun then a small bow and arrow. Shot a 22 arround 13

I did not get my first gun till I was 58. Maybe not wait that long.

Maybe they won't like guns?

Ha Ha...He already likes guns...and trucks...and tools... I like the pellet gun idea - I think I will get him one this spring.

[Woodchuck Dan]

Just a side note. It's not whether he is right handed or left handed, but more importantly whether he is right eye or left eye dominant. A simple hand eye test will determine that. I wish someone had told me about that way back when, so I could have started out with the correct firearms allowing both eyes open when about to shoot, without loosing focus thru the scope. For example, I am right handed, but left eye dominant. For me, I can't change now so easily. Guns all bought and old habits die hard.

^^ This for sure

Starting to shoot guns in my 30's I am very grateful that I realized I was cross eye dominant (right handed, left eye dominant) very early in my shooting process and started to use rifles as a lefty. (Already bought a right ended 308 though which is fairly akward)

It's interesting to me that I am right handed. I am a bit young to have the left handedness beaten out of me, grew up in the 90's. I wonder if I looked around at all the other kids and just imitated right handed-ness when all those muscle memory grooves in my brain were developing.

This is a very mild handicap in life but one nonetheless - I would try to avoid instilling it in a youngster if I ever had one of my own

[Kill-da-wabbit]

^^ This for sure

Starting to shoot guns in my 30's I am very grateful that I realized I was cross eye dominant (right handed, left eye dominant) very early in my shooting process and started to use rifles as a lefty. (Already bought a right ended 308 though which is fairly akward)

It's interesting to me that I am right handed. I am a bit young to have the left handedness beaten out of me, grew up in the 90's. I wonder if I looked around at all the other kids and just imitated right handed-ness when all those muscle memory grooves in my brain were developing.

This is a very mild handicap in life but one nonetheless - I would try to avoid instilling it in a youngster if I ever had one of my own

Yeah, this is great advice. It never really crossed my mind because it's never been an issue for me. I'll start him with the cheapo pellet gun and if he happens to shoot left, then I guess I'll keep any other rifles I buy for him for myself - Oh darn...

[Woodchuck Dan]

Yeah, this is great advice. It never really crossed my mind because it's never been an issue for me. I'll start him with the cheapo pellet gun and if he happens to shoot left, then I guess I'll keep any other rifles I buy for him for myself - Oh darn...

So selfless of you - Yeah it's more common than people think, I believe about 30% of the population is cross-dominant. It's more important for iron sights or shotguns, or if you want to be able to keep both eyes open while operating a scope.

Just because they are shooting right doesn't mean that they shouldn't be learning left -

I believe the simplest way to test a younger person for eye dominance would be to give them something like a camera, where they would unconsciously use the dominant eye to look through the view finder. - I'm not entirely sure how accurate this is. Might be worth a trip to the optometrist.

I have a good friend who came from a hunting family whose parents had a hell of a time figuring out what direction she should shoot. She is ambidextrous and can skin proficiently left handed, but I believe also shoots right, but is in general ambidextrous. I'm unsure of her eye dominance.

[Downtown]

Pop Gun then graduating to BB Gun shooting Balloons and while having Fun with Dad he/she learns safe Gun handling before any next step.

Hell a BB Gun can easily take out an Eye but a .22 Shell can easily kill or maim a grown Man.

Cheers

[Ubertuber]

One more vote for a .177 single shot break action BB/pellet gun.
Then up it to a single shot .22 when they're older.
Hold off buying a repeater .22 until they are proficient shooters.
And like others have said, check eye dominance.

[WWBC]

I got my daughter a cricket.22 and put a red dot on it to make hitting the target easier.
She got her 1st grouse with it last year. For hunting she uses the sub sonic hollow points so she can shoot without ear protection if need be.